Bubble blowing device

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a bubble blowing device comprising a body; a bubble making unit horizontally located in the body for making bubbles by air flowing in the bubble making unit; a power supply disposed in the body; and a sound and/or light generating unit disposed in the body which is electrically connected to the power supply so that when air flows into the bubble making unit, the sound and/or light generating unit can be actuated to generate sound and/or light, while bubbles may be made by the bubble making unit simultaneously. Sound and/or light can be automatically carried out by adding a sound and/or light generating unit in the device, while bubbles with different sizes can be formed simultaneously. Thus, this device can be definitely more attractive than those in prior art.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a bubble blowing toy forblowing a solution into bubbles, and more particularly, to a bubbleblowing device which can be adapted to generate sound and/light whilebubbles can be generated at the same time when blowing air into thistoy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional bubble blowing toys that is commercially available can begenerally comprised of a container holding a solution, and a bubble coilwith a handle for blowing the solution into bubbles. These bubbleblowing toys in prior art can only make bubble simply, and no otherfunction can be achieved, thus these cannot be satisfactory forentertainment.

To solve the problem, any improvement of the toy is designed, such asU.S. Pat. No. 6,524,155 provides a bubble-blowing toy, which has athree-dimensional design that attracts children's attention. Thebubble-blowing toy comprises a fluid container holding a bubble fluid,an applicator adapted for picking up the bubble fluid from the fluidcontainer for blowing bubbles, and an ornament holding the fluidcontainer on the inside to keep the fluid container from sight.According to this invention, the ornament has a coloredthree-dimensional design in the outside wall. According to still anotheraspect of the above invention, the ornament can be made having the shapeof a candy stick, toy, animal, cartoon character, plant, etc. This aboveinvention can bring more change in relation to the appearance of thebubble blowing toy itself, but these change cannot attract the children.

Therefore, there is still a need to improve the current bubble blowingtoy in prior art to add more functions in addition to blow bubble forattracting more children.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this new invention is directed to the problems of existingtechnology in terms of their difficulties to attract children, providinga new bubble blowing device that can emit light and/or make sounds whenblowing the device.

The technical solutions for the technical problems of this new inventionare:

-   -   a bubble blowing device comprising:    -   a body;    -   a bubble making unit horizontally located in the body for making        bubbles by air flowing in the bubble making unit;    -   a power supply disposed in the body; and    -   a sound and/or light generating unit disposed in the body which        is electrically connected to the power supply so that when air        flows into the bubble making unit, the sound and/or light        generating unit can be actuated to generate sound and/or light,        while bubbles may be made by the bubble making unit        simultaneously.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, the bubbleblowing device comprises a control unit which can control the generationof sound and/or light.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, the bubblemaking unit comprises a bubble wand at one end, an opening forair-flowing at the other end, and an actuating member in the middle bywhich the sound and/or light generating unit can be actuated to generatelight and/or sound. In one embodiment of the invention, the actuatingmember is a blade wheel. In another alternative embodiment, theactuating member is a plastic straw.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, the soundand/or light generating unit comprises:

a sound and/or light motor device for emitting light and/or making asound; and

a switch electrically connected between the actuating member by anelectrode terminal thereon and the power supply, which is controlled bythe control unit to control the connection between the sound and/orlight motor device and the power source.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, the switchcan be mechanically actuated by the air flowing into the bubble makingunit to connect the power source and the sound and/or light motordevice.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, the powersource is a battery that is disposed in a battery compartment in thebody of the bubble blowing device.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the invention, wherein thecontrol unit is a PCB module which is located in the body of the bubbleblowing device.

In accordance with the bubble blowing device of this invention, theadditional electric function such as sound and/or light can beautomatically carried out by adding a sound and/or light generating unitin the device when the players blow this device, and the a plurality ofbubbles with different sizes can be formed at the same time. Thus thebubble blowing device of the present invention can be more attractive toall the players especially to the younger children.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention may be clearly set forth withreference to the accompanying drawings. The invention, together with theadvantages thereof may be best understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings, whereinlike reference signs identify like elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section view of a bubble blowing device according toone embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a back section view of the bubble blowing device shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bubble blowing device shown in FIG. 1,wherein a bubble dish is shown in the figure;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of a bubble blowing device according toanother embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the bubble blowing device shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The structure of the bubble blowing device of the invention will beexplained in detail with reference to the accompany drawings. Thedescription and explanatory embodiment herein are merely used to setforth the present invention, not to limit the invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a bubble blowing device 100comprises a body, which may have an upper portion 110 and a lowerportion 120 defined by a grip that can be held by hand in a preferredembodiment herein. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the artthe body is a conventional member for a bubble blowing device. And forease of description of the structure of the body of the bubble blowingdevice 100, two portions are recited herein, which thus can not beintended to limit the structure of the body itself In fact, the body canbe integratedly formed.

The upper portion 110 is provided with a bubble making unit, by whichbubbles with different sizes can be formed through air-flowing into thesaid bubble making unit. Specifically, the bubble making unit comprisesa bubble wand 180 for forming bubbles at one end, an opening 140 forair-flowing at the other end, and an actuating member, such as a bladewheel having an electrode 151 and a plastic straw 155 having anelectrode 156, in the middle. The bubble wand 180 is structurally thesame as those in prior art, and detailed structures are omitted herein.In one embodiment of the invention, the said bubble making unit ishorizontally located on the upper portion 110.

Preferably, the bubble blowing device 100 is provided with a soundand/or light generating unit for making sound and/or emitting light whenbubbles are forming, a power source for providing electricity and acontrol unit for controlling the generation of sound and/or light. Thepower source, the sound and/or light generating unit and the controlunit are electrically connected in turn. In one embodiment of theinvention, the power source is a battery 160 having a positive electrode161, which is disposed in a battery compartment in the lower portion120. In another embodiment of the invention, the sound and/or lightgenerating unit is a sound and/or light motor device 130, which can beactuated to make sounds or emit light, if desired. In yet anotherembodiment of the invention, the control unit is a PCB module 170, whichstructures are obvious to those skilled in the art, such as the PCBmodule 170 may comprise a chip or microcomputer so as to achieve thecontrol function.

When air flows into the bubble making unit through the opening 140, theblade wheel 150 will be rotated in a direction shown by arrows in FIG.1, the bubbles can be formed through the bubble wand 180, then thesebubbles may fall into the bubble dish 200 (see FIG. 3); meanwhile, theelectrode 151 may be contacted with the electrode 161 so that the soundand/or light motor device 130 may be automatically actuated by thebattery 150 mechanically to make sounds and/or emit light, withoutapplication of any external force.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention shown as FIGS. 4 and 5,when air flows into the bubble making unit through the opening 140, thebubbles can be formed through the bubble wand 180; meanwhile, theplastic straw 155 will be moved downwardly, and the electrode 156 may becontacted with the electrode 161 so that the sound and/or light motordevice 130 may be automatically actuated by the battery 150 mechanicallyto make sounds and/or emit light, without application of any externalforce.

Preferably, in one embodiment of the invention, a switch 190 ispositioned between the electrode 151 and the electrode 161, which canelectrically connect the blade wheel 150 or the plastic straw 155 withthe power supply. Also, the switch 190 may be controlled by the PCBmodule 170 to control the connection between the sound and/or lightmotor device and the battery 160. The PCB module 170 may automaticallycontrol the switch 190 to connect the electrodes 151 or 156 with theelectrode 161, when the PCB module 170 can be aware of that the air isflowing into the opening 140 (shown by arrows in FIG. 3); on the otherhand, when the PCB module 170 cannot be sensed any air flowing into theopening 140, it may order the switch to disconnect the electrodes 151 or156 with the electrode 161, and no sound and/or light can be generated.Such configuration can increase of service time of the battery.

In accordance with the bubble blowing device of this invention, theadditional electric function such as sound and/or light can beautomatically carried out by adding a sound and/or light generating unitin the device when blowing by the mouth through the opening 140, and thea plurality of bubbles with different sizes can be formed at the sametime, without any additional button arranged on the device to obtain theabove functions and manually controlling the device additionally. Thusthe bubble blowing device of the present invention can be moreattractive to all the players especially to the younger children.

Furthermore, whether flowing or not can be easily detected in the deviceof the invention, since the above generating sound and/or light from thedevice can be powered off, once no air flowing into this device whichmay result in circuit interruption. And only the electric function isfunny in case that no bubbles can be generated such as no liquid in thedevice or any area banning blowing bubble.

It should be pointed that the bubble blowing device of this inventionutilizes lever principle to actuate the switch, thus weak airflow mayactuate the switch to obtain the above electric functions.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changesand modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit andscope of the invention. It should be understood that the embodiments ofthe present invention described above are illustrative only, and all thechanges and modifications made by those skilled in the art are coveredby the appended claims.

1. A bubble blowing device comprising: a body having an upper portionand a lower portion; a bubble making unit horizontally located in theupper portion of the body for making bubbles by air flowing into thebubble making unit, the bubble making unit comprising a bubble wanddisposed at one end of the upper portion of the housing, an opening forair-flowing disposed at the other end of the housing, and an actuatingmember provided between the bubble wand and the opening; a power supplydisposed in the lower portion of the body; and a sound and/or lightgenerating unit disposed in the upper portion of the body, which iselectrically connected to the actuating member and the power supply,wherein the air blown by a user's mouth through the opening flows intothe bubble making unit causes the actuating member to actuate togenerate sound/or light by the sound and/or light generating unit, whilebubbles are made by the bubble making unit using the air flown into thebubble making unit through the opening simultaneously, and wherein thebubble wand and the opening of the bubble making unit are fixedlydisposed on the housing.
 2. The bubble blowing device according to claim1, wherein the bubble blowing device comprises a control unit which cancontrol the generation of sound and/or light.
 3. (canceled)
 4. Thebubble blowing device according to claim 2, wherein the sound and/orlight generating unit comprises: a sound and/or light motor device foremitting light and/or making a sound; and a switch electricallyconnected between the actuating member by an electrode terminal thereonand the power supply, which is controlled by the control unit to controlthe connection between the sound and/or light motor device and the powersource.
 5. The bubble blowing device according to claim 4, wherein theswitch can be mechanically actuated by the air flowing into the bubblemaking unit to connect the power source and the sound and/or light motordevice.
 6. The bubble blowing device according to claim 1, wherein theactuating member is a blade wheel.
 7. The bubble blowing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the actuating member is a plastic straw.8. The bubble blowing device according to claim 1, wherein the powersource is a battery that is disposed in a battery compartment in thebody of the bubble blowing device.
 9. The bubble blowing deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the control unit is a printed circuitboard (PCB) module which is located in the body of the bubble blowingdevice.